Owelle Rochas on Course to Make Good his Promise

By Nwaorgu Faustinus

Prior to the 20011 general elections in Nigeria and during his touring
of Ngor-Okpala as part of his campaign strategy,  the current governor
of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha noted with dismay the poor nature
of the council road among other roads and promised to fix it once
voted and elected as the governor of the Eastern Heartland.  Many saw
the promise as one of the millions of promise made by politicians in
this part of the world that remains unfilled.

True to his promise, governor owelle rochas administration has
commenced the construction of the road that runs from Umukabia to the
Local Government Council located at Umuneke Ngor. While the people
from the area commend him for this among other good plans he has for
the council area given his philanthropic disposition and the
remarkable, prominent and praiseworthy role majority of electorates
from Ngor-Okpala played to put him in the Douglas House (State
Government House) where he is today, he should ensure that the
construction company handling the construction of the road delivers on
target.  It is important to observe here that it is one thing to
commence the construction of road and another to complete it while
adhering strictly to time, standards and specification. This
observation is based on previous attempt made to construct the road by
past administration but was abandoned.

Just like Oliver Twist, it is important to draw the attention of the
governor to the road that runs from Umuneke Ngor, Umueme, and part of
Umuakiri/Umuche Elelem and Obioma Community formerly Obike with a view
to completing it as it was abandoned by past administration before it
could get to the boundary between Umundoche obike, a village in
Ngor-Okpala and Ndashi, a community in Etche Local Government of
Rivers State.

It is imperative for Ngor-Okpala people to give the current
administration in Imo State led by Governor Rochas Okorocha the
benefit of doubt by supporting it not minding many pull him down
articles orchestrated by enemies of the state and the opposition as he
is poised to rescue Imo. My appeal for support for the governor is not
informed by any financial inducement but by what the present
administration was able to do which seemed impossible to many
especially in the education sector. The current free education being
enjoyed by both public primary and secondary school students is not
only laudable but also unprecedented.

One John I Mgbe in his article entitled “A peep into Gov. Okorochas
First 100 days wrote: “In his FIRST 100 DAYS, Rochas Okorochas has
made good his promise that after the elections, the Egyptians you saw
yesterday, you will see them no more.  He has also commenced his free
education scheme in line with his campaign manifesto.  Before now,
nobody knew that it would be possible to actualize a free education
scheme in Imo State. This free education scheme is the most important
political development in Imo State since the return of party politics
on 1st October; 1999.It is a big relief to various families who see
this scheme as a big source of disposable income to the family budget.
Rochas Okorocha’s free education scheme to the Senior Secondary
School level has superseded the requirement of the Universal Basic
Education (UBE) Scheme which stipulates that education should be free
and compulsory for the first 9 years (i.e. from primary to JSS3).
Under the UBE Scheme, there is no obligation on any government in
Nigeria to offer free education to the Senior Secondary School level;
what Okorocha has done in extending his free education to the
secondary school level is a bonus, a value added gesture which some
ungrateful and perfidious elements have failed to acknowledge.  The
money being used to run the free education scheme today is money which
some corrupt and fraudulent politicians were sharing among themselves
in the past.  Today, it is a windfall which is a disposable income to
the IMO State economy.  I did not know that free education could be
actualized in Imo State in the foreseeable future.  We were simply
brainwashed to have a mindset that Imo was so poverty-stricken to
venture into free education. At the tertiary level, education has
become accessible and affordable in line with Okorocha’s campaign
promises.  In this State, Governor Ohakim set up a panel headed by a
former vice Chancellor of Imo State University, Professor T.O.C.
Ndubuizu, which recommended N150, 000 as the school fees in Imo State
University.  Ohakim was a wily guy who knew how to use people of
integrity to achieve his ignoble goals.  He quickly distanced himself
from the panel when Owelle Okorocha and Senator Ararume started making
comments on free education and affordable and accessible education at
the secondary and tertiary levels respectively.  If Okorocha did not
succeed, most of those in the state school system, especially IMSU,
would have pulled out on the grounds of financial constraints.

In the same vein, a brand new institution: IMO College for Advanced
Professional Studies (ICAPS) is being built on the site of the former
premises of Statesman Newspapers. Unlike the former Imo Job Centre
which was a safe haven for defrauding jobless youths, ICAPS is a
centre for producing professionals in different walks of life. In the
same vein, Government has released the huge amount of N100ml to each
of the 27 Local Government Areas in Imo State for the purpose of
upgrading the deteriorating facilities in the primary and secondary
school levels. The budget for this project is N2.7bn. The
administration has also embarked on the building of 12 model
classrooms in each of the 305 INEC wards in Imo State. Each of the 12-
room blocks will gulp N30ml. The schools will be equipped with model
laboratories, computers, libraries and related learning aids. A state
of the art Young Scientists School is under construction at the former
premises of Imo Broadcasting Corporation (IBC).The school is targeted
at those students who are naturally endowed to excel in the sciences.
Construction work on the ICAPS and the Young Scientists’ School is
progressing at a frenetic speed”.

With these positive actions among others yet to come, I have no doubt
that the rochas Okorochas’ led administration is determined to save
not only Ngor-okpala but also Imo State in general. I pray that the
road you have started building in Ngor-Okpala will not be the last.
God bless Imo State.

Nwaorgu Faustinus writes from Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt,Rivers
State. Mobile: +2348035601312.Email:ngorokpalaresearcher@gmail.com or
ngorokpalaresearcher@yahoo.com

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